Flight
by vodka on fire
Summary: A one off story of how Ash and Misty got to reveal their feelings for one and other. Hope you like AAML.


Intro: One off story about Ash and Misty getting together, my first story was Stroll, and then came Drive, so I figured it was time for Flight.

Ages: Ash is 19, so is Misty

Also I don't own pokémon... Nothing would be truly different if I did (well except the horrendous amounts of money I would have). As I have said before if Ash and Misty got together in the real show the AAML community would suddenly be rather useless lol.

Let me know what to change and how to improve, don't worry if you didn't like it constructive criticism helps me improve. Thanks in advance for reading and potentially reviewing. Hope you like it.

* * *

As the Pidgeot Airlines flight 635 neared Kanto one particular passage was very ill at ease. Though easily the plane's most illustrious guest, he tried desperately to find his calm and to stop his worrying. He had come a long way from an impetuous youth. He'd traveled far and wide meeting all manner of pokémon and people. He'd even discovered a few of his own special attacks. As far as the League was concerned he was a role model for every young PokéTrainer. He'd just about come full circle. In roughly an hour the plane would land in Cerulean City. Then a short drive later he'd be back in Pallet seeing his family and many friends for the first time in what seemed, and to be truthful was, ages.

His journey had been long and perilous. His ever faithful companions had been with him the whole time of course, none more so that his Pikachu. Now a veteran of more battles than either of them could count, they knew he was getting close to retirement. Still, what the old rodent, as he jokingly referred to his best friend, lacked in speed he made up for in power. Pikachu may have lost his agility but he was unmatchable in pure power. This combined with their uncanny ability to communicate without talking and without a moment's hesitation, made them a fearsome duo. He remembered the early days, the mistrust, and the blundering mistakes he'd made. Sometimes he wondered how he survived at all, never mind reached the level he'd attained. The answer was never far from his mind though; it waited for him in the terminal. It was with a kind hand and a firm mallet that he'd been lead kicking and screaming though those first years. There had certainly been allot of that, screaming that is, there was little in the world he missed more.

To any casual observer the fabled Ash Ketchum looked as unflappable as ever. He'd learned over the years to keep his emotions in check lest his adversary should delve his strategy form his expressions. But those close to him would have seen his tightening and loosening his right fist while his left hand absentmindedly petted Pikachu. A seemingly normal gesture, but one done in just slightly too robotic a fashion. _Brock would have seen right through me,_ he thought.

Though he had faced gangs of evildoers hell-bent on taking over the world, legendary pokémon capable of rendering him limb from limb, and just about every kind of physical danger he could find, he was for the first time in his life truly terrified of what awaited him in the small Cerulean City airport terminal bellow.

* * *

The red-haired gym leader crossed and uncrossed her legs nervously. She hadn't taken her eyes of the large display board in front of her for over an hour. Though the plane wasn't due for another forty minutes or so she had been far too excited to wait at home and risk arriving late.

In her many years traveling with the now world famous Pokémon Master, and even afterwards while running the Cerulean Gym, Misty had been in more than her fair share of tight situations. Whether she was battling, or watching him stumble through one of his own disasters (though she'd never say this aloud even she had to admit he'd improved a bit over the years), or being kidnapped by Team Rocket she'd been in legitimately life threatening situations, but all that amounted to nothing compared to the waiting. _Well maybe that one time in Viridian_ she shuddered involuntarily at the thought of the bug infested maze of a forest.

_He could have visited more often_ she thought grumpily attempting with futility to use her own anger to calm herself down, a paradoxical coping mechanism only the fabled Cerulean gym leader was capable of pulling off. She didn't really blame him, he was on the road most of the time and getting to phones was hard... and even so there had been a string of belatedly replied messages and well wishes, not to mention the odd letters... those she was particularly fond of for some reason. And in truth he had managed to achieve his goal of becoming pokémon master. Still, he'd been gone far too long, and if he thought for just one second he could just saunter back home and say a cheerful hello and be forgiven... well she'd be damned if she let him know I'd be that easy. He'd have to sweat it a bit.

In the old days, she'd always just taken out her anger and frustration on him. At first it had been honest, she really was extremely pissed at him, but slowly she realised she started enjoying their rows and their time together. _Mr. Big and Famous Pok_é_mon Master better not have found himself some bimbo or I may revert to a more violent and less refined time_. She'd wanted to tell him so long ago but he'd been a right idiot when they parted last, and she didn't want to do it over the phone. At some point over the years she'd given up on what she saw as her childish infatuation. There followed a string of disappointing relationships ending in Bobby Johnson's broken nose. It was after his comment that Ash's most recent battle against Lance was, as he put it, "a final and decisive proof that Ash Ketchum was and always would be a looser". She'd socked him a good one for that, and being a senior in high school at the time got into a lot of trouble for it. It was worth it though, no one but her got to insult Ash... and maybe Brock.

After that she'd given up trying to find other guys, she'd gone on the occasional casual date or a double to help out a friend, but she knew she wasn't over him. _And he'll be sorry if he doesn't feel the same way. _An irrational and impulsive side of her thought as she patted a suspiciously mallet shaped lump in her purse.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen please put your seats in a upright position, fold away your tables and prepare for landing. We will be arriving ant Cerulean City International Airport in just under twenty minutes. And we remind our passengers that fire type pokémon are not allowed out of their pokéballs during the flight." The stewarded added the last message with a meaningful glance at a twelve year old boy whose Charmander was cowering in the boys jacket apparently not entirely pleased with the elevation it found itself at.

Ash remembered when his Pikachu was just as badly behaved. Those first few years were very lively. Between Pikachu thundershocking him whenever it got annoyed and Misty blaming every little thing on him it was a loud and painful time. And still one of the best times of his life. He missed his verbal, and sometimes physical, sparring sessions with Misty, Brock's indulgent smile. The renowned "lady's man" had finally found himself a breeding job with Professor Oak, and last Ash heard from him was having a great time. He'd know back then, Brock had, _How come I didn't?_ Ash asked himself as he absentmindedly starred out the window. It wasn't until after the last battle that he figured it out, his fifth against Lance, he'd finally won, the celebrations were amazing, everyone wanted his autograph, three different reporters wanted to buy the rights to his "_story_", and despite the joyous festivities he kept feeling like something was wrong.

It was about three in the morning, he'd just gotten a very sloppy Karley back to her room. Karley and he had met up on the road to the Pokémon League. She seemed nice enough and they hit it off but there was nothing between them. "Have you no libido man?" she'd irritably asked him though her drunken stupor as he refused her third invites to spend the night and as she put it "continue the celebrations". She was attractive enough and nice and all, but Ash just hadn't really been interested. As he entered his complimentary room he sat down at the PC in the corner and reflexively checked his e-mail. There waiting for him was his revelation. What a rather stunning scantily clad girl inviting him into her bedroom had failed to do one little e-mail from a far off and far too rarely seen water trainer had awoken. She'd seen the fight on TV and congratulated him. There was nothing particularly different about the writing, but he saw it differently, the comfortable nature of the text, the joy it raised in him to see it, after nearly ten years something had finally gotten through to him. And it only took a very drunken proposition to help him see it. He realised then what was missing, a loud, ill tempered red head. He booked his tickets that night and made arrangements the next morning to postpone his upcoming visit to Professor Elm's place. Karley was a right mess the next morning and he couldn't help but crack a grin as she started apologising for the previous night.

This was the first plane coming in anywhere near Pallet or Cerulean, even so it was landing at 1 am. He'd have flown here himself but his pokémon were all exhausted and deserved a rest. He sent Misty an e-mail back thanking her for the wishes and telling her he was headed back. It was a short three line message much like any other reply he'd written so many times before, but this one had taken him thirty tries before he'd deemed it fit. Now she was waiting for him in the airport and though he had finally figured out how he felt, even the ten hour flight hadn't given him enough time to figure out what to say.

* * *

She watched the doors at the arrivals gate like a hawk. A small, rational, intelligent, and unfortunately highly ignored part of her told her that plane had just recently landed and it would take a while for the passengers to get off. The rest of her was just anxious to see his raven hair poking out from that old Pokémon League hat he wore. A third, more cynical, and thankfully entirely ignored voice asked her what she'd do once she did see him, this she had firmly put out of her mind as she was having enough problems keeping herself together just waiting for him, never mind the wreck she'd be if she had to think about what she would say or do. Though she would never admit this to herself, this was partially because she was still hopping he got of that plane alone and not with some girl.

A few minutes later a taller and more confident Ash Ketchum got entered the arrivals lounge. He looked for all the world like a true Pokemon Master. But she could see that young boy she'd met on his first day as a trainer. His faithful Pikachu still perched on his shoulder that unruly hair still sticking out at odd angles. _Those shoulders aren't the same though_ she thought to herself coyly as she waved her arms to get his attention.

Ash saw her waving and headed over he was running through greetings in his mind unsure exactly how to start. Blurting out "I Love You" seemed like it belonged in some Julia Roberts movie, but just "Hi" didn't seem like it matched the occasion. Luckily for him fire tempered water trainer solved his dilemma by giving him a swift but clearly playful punch in the shoulder. "Ouch! Some welcome that is," he said as he feigned great pain. "What was that for Mist?"

"Five years you ruddy idiot. You could have visited you know." It wasn't the romantic reunion either of them had envisioned but it felt right. It was comfortable; it was what had been missing.

"I'm sorry Mist," he said leaving Misty speechless.

"Yeah... well... uhm don't let it happen again," she stammered confused. She hadn't intended to hit him but it had just felt like the appropriate thing to do at the time.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaimed as he jumped from Ash's shoulder into her arms and effectively breaking the tension.

"Let's get you back to the Gym we'll drive down to pallet tomorrow. Everyone is excited to have you back, they're throwing you a party when we get back. Brock's working for Professor Oak now, did you know? They're studying pokémon mating habits and various genetic traits that get passed down. He's loving it." She finished putting his stuff in the car and they both got in. "So what about you what's been happening?"

"Oh you know this and that," he replied offhandedly showing her a cocky grin. "had a couple of nice battles." He told her all about the Elite Four's special challenges, they had each had a twist to the battle rules, always something to throw you off, but in the end he'd won, it'd been close, and it was a sign of his growth that he admitted it. They were pulling into the Gym parking lot by the time he'd finished his story. Pikachu, who had settled nicely in Ash's lap during the ride eyed him as if to say "Is this why you came back?", and truth be told, much as Ash did love to talk pokémon he had something else on his mind at the moment.

Ash took his carry on inside leaving most of the bags in the car for the trip down to Pallet tomorrow. They stayed up a while and caught up; Misty told him about a few of the more entertaining trainers that came by. Every now and again some young upstart would try to challenge her even though it was clear they had no idea what they were doing. Slowly Ash started to fall asleep on the couch he as lying on. Given that it was four in the morning and he'd been celebrating the previous night, Misty was not at all surprised. "Hey Mist," he said half asleep as she tried to get up and sneak off to go to bed herself. "I missed you." And there it was; one simple unassuming sentence. But it carried his meaning clearly enough and Misty understood.

"I missed you too Ash," she smiled. "Good night." He was already asleep by the time she said this and to be honest she'd had a long day to, there would be plenty of time to elaborate on that sentence later, for now it felt good to have said it. She relaxed and fell asleep on the couch next to him his head having slipped onto her lap. This was the first of many nights they would sleep together.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought.


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